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We Are In Beta Podcast


Jun 16, 2019

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In this episode, Dr, Chris Tomlinson, Director of Harris Secondary and soon to be CEO of Coop Academies Trust, shares his thoughts on:

  • Why his experience of education wasn’t great and what gave him confidence
  • What he believes headteachers should all still do
  • What he says is the key to leading 5 schools from inadequate to outstanding
  • Which groups of students he thinks defines you as a leader
  • Why he disagrees with tabloid newspapers
  • What he thinks about Ofsted
  • His advice to new leaders about how to approach Ofsted
  • What he believes is the most effective CPD
  • Which external organisations he recommends working with
  • How to get the most out of SEN funding
  • How he responds to the criticism that Harris academies are exam factories
  • How schools and the government can tackle teacher retention problems
  • Why his weaknesses might be his biggest strength
  • What advice he would give to aspirant headteachers
  • What one question he would ask every headteacher if could
  • How one student helped him out when is new accountability structures weren't very popular
  • Why he is optimistic about the future of education
  • To learn more about We Are In Beta head over to:https://weareinbeta.substack.com/about

To access a full transcript of the interview:https://medium.com/@WeAreInBeta/the-one-budget-you-keep-moving-up-the-importance-of-investing-in-staff-development-in-schools-d04311537e94

Join the conversation and tell me what you think by tweeting @NiallAlcock. I'll let him know as he's not on Twitter!

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